One time Russian Soviet political prisoner and currently a member of the Israeli Knesset, Natan Sharansky, wrote a lovely book, titled, The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror (New York, Public Affairs, 2004). In that enlightening discourse Sharansky distinguished between two main types of societies in the world: free societies and fear societies. Free societies are governed by the precepts of individual liberty and the imperatives of the rule of law. Fear societies, on the other hand, are governed by tyranny and terror. In fear societies citizens withdraw into their tribal and ethnic cocoons. People talk in whispers, afraid of their own very shadows.
Nigeria today is becoming, sadly, a fear society. From the moment you wake in the morning, take your breakfast and get out of your doorsteps to pursue a livelihood, you are gripped in fear. From the highways to the streets and the marketplace, no one is safe. If it is not kidnappers or ritual killers and armed robbers; it is shadowy agents who abjure any form of libertarian ideals. We are being governed by the rule of fear. The first condition of freedom, as far as I know, is the freedom of speech. There is an atmosphere of fear in this country that is encroaching gradually but relentlessly on the right to free speech. Entire NGOS and questionable international agencies are devoting resources and energy to what they call “campaign against hate speech”. The irony is that those campaigners are among the most hate-filled and vile human beings you can ever have the misfortune to meet.
Even the so-called “Best Television Station in Nigeria” is a deceitful enterprise. Some of the interviewers ask questions intended to browbeat you into towing the official line. They pretend to be playing devil’s advocate, but they have become indirect megaphones for the tyrants. They are tacit co-conspirators in the fear and murderous tyranny that has taken over our country. We are currently under the reign of Global Jihad whose strategic intent is to kill our democracy and bury our freedoms under a morass of demonic oppression.
Consider the case of Chief Justice Onnoghen who has been ordered to hand-over the reins of office as he faces trial for allegedly not filling his Assets Declaration form. He is also being accused of operating some dozen bank accounts containing varying amounts of local and international currencies. There has been no precedent for a serving justice being compelled to appear in a lower court to answer charges for a misdemeanour, real or imagined.
When Chief Justice Mahmud Mohammed was retiring in November 2016, his successor was supposed to have been announced immediately. This was never done. There were rumours that the government was not comfortable with his presumed successor according to our de facto “seniority rule” for succession in the Supreme Court. There had been a whispering campaign that he was “corrupt” and unfit for the exalted office of CJN. Walter Onnoghen, the presumed successor, took over in acting capacity so as to avoid a vacuum. He continued acting until 6 March 2017, when he was confirmed as substantive Chief Justice by Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo. President Buhari had been away on sick leave. And given that the rules forbade him from acting beyond a certain time limit, Osinbajo chose to confirm him. Apparently, the decision did not go down well with certain powers.
Section 21(3) of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution confers on the National Judicial Council (NJC) the powers to recommend to the executive the appointment, discipline and removal of judges. We are perplexed as to why the Code of Conduct Bureau did not bring these charges earlier on, until now. The timing is patently rather suspect. We are in an electoral-political cycle in which the stakes are high.
We are under the impression that the government in power is desperate to reposition key personnel in such a manner as would help them rig the elections. Hence the appointment of Amina Zakari as INEC chief collating officer. Even if she was not related to the president, the fact that she comes from his geopolitical zone leaves a rather bitter taste. The prosecution of a serving Chief Justice at this time could similarly be interpreted as a way of hounding him out and repositioning the high judicature to ensure that they have a Chief Justice who can give a favourable judgement should matters end up in court. Onnoghen’s presumed successor is an expert in Sharia law who comes from the President’s “catchment area”. He does not have a great reputation as a common law jurist. At least one of his colleagues confided to me that they used to help him write some of his judgements.
Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen CJ may or may not be guilty of the offences he is being charged with. The issue is whether such a public display is the best way to resolve a delicate matter with respect to a serving Chief Justice. The timing and the approach smack of judicial persecution. Of course, nobody is above the law. There are times when judging the judges is an imperative necessity for the upholding of the rule of law. But we must do it with equity and justice, not in the manner of barbarian hordes. Removing a Chief Justice is not a small matter. It is a decision that one approaches with fear and trembling.
In our own case, there has been only one episode when a serving Chief Justice was summarily relieved of his post. I am referring to the case of Justice Taslim Olawale Elias who was removed by the Murtala/Obasanjo military dictatorship in 1975. Of course, a military regime can sack any public officer who has the misfortune to incur their wrath. But it would be a moral and political catastrophe; for a democratic government, it is worse. Taslim Olawale Elias was the greatest jurist this country has ever produced. The humiliation he received in the hands of the military did not keep him down. He went on to be a judge of the International Court of Justice at The Hague, and eventually, its President. An oracle of great learning and erudition; he was an ornament of the legal world.
About a week ago, a contact in the security services found a circular with a new travel ban list from the Presidency, dated 11 December, with my name on it. I was been banned from travelling without any charges ever having been directly levelled at me. I had to go to them myself to verify if the circular was genuine. It was then I was subjected to a whole day of questioning. They also came to my home and seized my passport. They said they were probing some money that CBN gave to banks as far back as October 2006. I explained to them that I was Deputy Governor for Economic Policy. Our department never handled money either for bailouts, forbearance or anything of the sort. Besides, I left in March 2007. I asked them why they were picking on me for this kind of questioning when the people that were directly involved in mainline departments were not being questioned. I asked if this is not political persecution. One of them asked me sheepishly why I do not want to join President Buhari and the APC. I replied that I would like to know why Buhari and the APC do not want to join the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Such is the ominous darkness that is taking over our country.
Obadiah Mailafia
